You're kidding me! You're comparing the 8 to a car that 35 years old, huge suvs, and the 3000gt (I really wanted one of those back in the day), a car that hasn't been in production in over 12 years. The new mustang v6 gets over 30 mpg highway

 

Once you realize people are comparing them to the past few years of sports cars that are getting high 20's and a few in the low 30's then it's easily understood their beef. That and the fact they can get 250+hp out of them NA from the dealer makes them tempting and leading to MPG topics perhaps to see if the mass agrees to help justify their own plan to move on to another vehicle.

Of course like you said, it's based on a 2004 version that never changed it's engine setup (much) which didn't help Mazda keep up.

Comes down to people who feel the need to whine and moan instead of just accepting their initial decision when they bought the car which goes the same for any sports car or general vehicle for that matter.

Bingo.......and it's going to be more relative like this every year as fuel alike to gold is curving upward at a much faster pace proportional to time.

I wouldn't be surprised to see topics like this on any sports car forum in this current day and age. Everyone is feeling the pain at the pump (no pun); question is how much it affects your fuel spending and influencing you to get something different.

 

that's exactly the consensus today! You hit it right on the head! Over 300 hp mustangs getting 30+ mpg. Tesla roadsters, etc.

 

It's simply a matter of perspective.

When you come from 10mpg, 20mpg is a 50% cost reduction and absolute heaven.

When you come from 30mpg, 20mpg is a 50% cost increase, and as painful as being disemboweled with a spoon.

 

To the OP your "intended inquiry" has not been lost. I know nothing about what Mazda's future plans are regarding their rotory engine.

I became interested in this vehicle solely based on looks. When I test drove my first RX8 I was intrigued as it handled like no other I had ever driven. With the exception of a murcielago I had the pleasure of running around the track at a fund raiser I attended. I was a bit disappointed in performance (lack of power). However once I discovered that this car was meant to be driven in the upper band of it's RPM range, I scheduled another test drive. It was a great experience. I did wonder why I burned through so much fuel on a relatively short test drive. I figured there was something wrong with the car. So I drove a different car, with identical results.

I loved the styling and handling of the car so much that I bought this vehicle regardless of what most consider to be awful fuel efficiency. I did my research, found a car that I was happy with and have had a grin from ear to ear for several years. I knew NOTHING about a rotory engine. However because of this and another forum I have discovered how to maintain mine and get the most out of it. Please keep in mind the 8 was never purchased to be a DD. My F150 is my DD and gets worse mileage than the 8 and it's brand new. I literally bought it last November after my 04 F150 died with over 270k on the clock.

Where am I going? Here is what IMO is happening a lot as of late. The 8 is aging, there are quite a few out there that are cheap to purchase less than 10k in many instances. Because of the ease of acquiring the vehicle, people are not doing their due diligence in research. This is not a cheap car by any stretch of the imagination. Fuel aside, regular maintenance can be pricey and people are not aware of this before they purchase. 13 to 16 gallons of premium at $4.00 a gallon twice or more a week can be expensive to some people. In perspective though I can tear a $100 bill to shreds with one fill up on my truck. $60 to $80 fill ups are quite common, and that the "cheap stuff" lol. I have the ZX2 which is the most fuel efficient of the bunch which will yield 36 MPG if you drive it like Grandpa and 29 if you drive it like you stole it. I prefer my truck and I am capable and willing to pay for the fuel needed to operate it. Same with the 8. When I get in the mood, fuel is a non issue. If people simply did their research and found out what they were getting themselves into I think this would come up less. Lets face it there are a lot of people who own this car who simply can not afford it. I'd like to have a Bugatti Veyron. Even if I could pick one up for a "reasonable price" 5k for a set of tires for that thing is a bit out of my price range. Of course that is an extreme example, yet I hope you get my point.

 

Could be worse. You could live in the UK were it costs me £75 ($120) to fill up. Aprox £6.95 ($11.00 per Gallon

Shell V-power

 

 

Why you keep comparing a car that came out in 2003 to something years later? You do reliased that even mustang has changed couple of times already. The rx8 is spretty much the same as 2003. And the next rotary is not even out yet, i understand you are not happy about the mpg. But the car is the same as 2003. So what exactly is the point of this thread?

2004 mustang 3.8L have epa rating of 18/27
2004 rx-8 have 16/22
2004 350z have 18/24

Is the mpg really that out of ordinary

Not to mention, even the 8 has lower power of all 3, it can out run the higher power cars at some course by a significant margin. Is that bad?

 

this thread makes me lol

just filled up @ 1.41/L aka 5.48/Gal, I'll take your 3.98 plz.

 

It's not about the 8. The 8 has been discontinued. It's about any future rotary and if one will eventually make it back to the market. My point was that I wouldn't buy another unless it got much better mileage.

 

How much of that is your governments tax on top of the real cost (if you can even find out)?

 

Gas prices will rise either way, and trouble in the middle east isn't helping. That said, they wouldn't release a rotary without a proper low end / cruise mileage anyway.

It seems a lot of americans drive miles and miles every day to and from work. Why not buy a shitty car for that? It's not like you need a great driving experience cruising on some boring highway or standing in queue.

Over here it's quite expensive to own two cars, but can't be a big problem in the US (Except parking, but it that was a problem you probably wouldn't drive that far to begin with).

Gas where I'm at is about $11 per gallon ($2.7 per litre which is what we measure in). Shitload of tax on our gas prices even if we produce our own oil. That's life. I walk to work so I can live with it.

 

 

Looking at the reports on Fuelly, it looks like folks are getting 25mpg overall on their 2012 V6 Mustangs. I've got a hunch that the only reason the EPA numbers are as good as they are is the same reason the Corvette posts decent numbers: tall 6th gear.

If you drive those cars like they're supposed to be driven, you won't even come close. Mazda just hasn't given us the option of driving like that. If RPM in 6th at 70 MPH was 2k instead of nearly 4k, I'm sure our mileage numbers would be up, too. And there would be a lot more carbon build-up complaints.

 

Fucked if you do, fucked if you don't... :|

 

Good point, i never thought about that.

Mmmm i wonder what will happen if our 6th gear is 0.5 ...

 

aThere are mpg improvements in each rotary engine generation. So i wouldnt be surprised if the next rotary engine gets at least 30 mpg hwy. This is one of the reasons why mazda changed the width of the housings on the 16x

 

Well its supposed to mirror (by like 100th) the price of a barrel of oil per litre, but this new tax they added taxes the tax thats already included in the price, plus 15 cents/L more for premium. but hey, come emmigrate to Canada, get free healthcare and ****, no curiosity where it comes from.

 

You must have mixed feelings about your free health care. In one post you justify the taxes that go to support it. And in the prior message, you complain about the price of gasoline where these taxes are generated.

 

Here in Italy:

1,80 € per liter

Now think about me and my daily bunch of blasphemies while I wait for the gas pump to purge my wallet and you'll realize that you are really lucky guys.

 

Isn’t the CAFÉ mileage requirement suppose to be applied as an average across the models in the brand? This is so trucks, Mustangs, and Corvettes can still be in a car company’s line up. They are not going anywhere. I agree with the above postings that it is the emissions standards that are the snag with the rotary. This is not going to be fixed anytime soon because Mazda pulled the funding for the 16X rotary project at the start of the economic down turn. So the Eight is it for now folks.

 

in the u.k we have the highest fuel tax in europe, i wouldnt be surprised if its somewhere near the highest in the world. there's currently protests going on now, but doubt it will do much. luckily i have a little 1100cc citroen saxo as a beater that gets 50+mpg ive just cut down doing my store runs and things in the main car.

 

its about 80% tax. and there thinking about upping it again.

 

That would make your price of gasoline around $2.20 per Gallon, before taxes. Not that different than it is here.

 

/fixed

Sorry, if you're going to make a point, be sure to have proper grammar.